"Pieces of the Island"-An English Translation

Caridad Peinado Gutiérrez

State Security unleashed a wave of arrests, a Catholic administrator refused to lend his temple to shelter them, and the weather conditions consisted of heavy rains and lots of cold, and yet more than 100 Ladies in White marched throughout Cuba and participated in their respective churches to pray for the freedom of all political prisoners and the entire country this Sunday, March 3rd.

As each Sunday, former political prisoner of conscience Ivan Hernandez Carrillo used his Twitter account (@ivanlibre) to document what was happening with these women throughout the island.

One of the first tweets published by Hernanez informed that in the province of Pinardel Rio 4 Ladies in White managed to march and arrive to Mass, while another 6 were detained. “Marti Noticias” published an article about the violent of Noralis Martin, the representative of the group in that province, alongside her husband Jose Rolando Casares.

In Havana, despite heavy rains, 44 Ladies in White defied the vigilance of the state police and marched down 5th Avenue and participated in Mass at Santa Rita Church, accompanied by more than 30 male dissidents.

Ladies in White march in Havana. March 3rd, 2013. Pubished by @jangelmoya

Hernandez Carrillo tweeted that in Matanzas province a total of 14 women made it to Mass. 7 participated in the city of Cardenas, 5 in Colon, 1 in Perico and 1 in Roque.

4 Ladies in White participated in Mass in the central province of Villa Clara, while another 3 were detained. These were Lisandra Farrai Rodríguez, Aime Moya Montes de Oca and Malvelis González Reyes.

Ladies in White march in Colon, Matanzas. March 3rd, 2013. Published by @SayliNavarro

In the Eastern region of the country, 4 women were arrested in Granma, 9 made it to Mass in Guantanamo, and a total of 54 Ladies in White participated in Mass at the El Cobre National Shrine, despite having slept the night out in the open after an administrator of that temple refused to offer them shelter.

Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), published a series of tweets (@jdanielferrer) recounting the situation.

“Without any doubts, the administrator known as Enrique, is being hostile towards the Ladies in White due to pressures of the political police”, read one message, while another signaled that “Enrique refused shelter to the Ladies in White because, supposedly, there were not enough rooms available in the Sanctuary…Afterwards, he gave various people rooms, including a political police agent who went there to watch the Ladies in White”.

“The day that the Cuban people open the archives of the G2 (secret police), many will be shocked to see how many collaborators were in different churches”, Ferrer Garcia expressed in another message.

Meanwhile, in Holguin 8 women arrived at church and another 4 were beaten by the police after Mass. The victims of the violence were Romelia Piña, Marlenis Abreu, Mirta Molina Leyva and Glisedis Piña González.

Eleiny Villamonte Cardozo, a young member of the group, told this blog that at around 9 AM she was violently arrested by the police upon trying to make it to the Jesus Chrsit Redeemer of MenChurch in Holguin.

“The State Security agent known as ‘The Polish’ rushed up at me…he grabbed me by one of my arms and told me I was arrested“, said Villamonte, who peacefully resisted but was forcefully introduced into a police vehicle. She was taken to the police unit known as “La Segunda”.

“They left me there in a salon with an immigration agent. I was then taken to a room where a lady approached me and told me her story…she said she was very tired because she had made countless accusations against a man who had threatened her daughter with death but police authorities had completely ignored her case“, says Eleiny, “I told her that that’s how things are in this country, that they waited until someone was killed in order to act“.

When the immigration agent heard this, she told the Lady in White to shut up. “She nearly slapped me and told me various times to shut my mouth because, if not, I would suffer the consequences“. Eleiny stood by her opinions and, under various threats, was finally released at around 12:30 PM, after Mass had come to an end.

In the case of Mildred Noemi Sanchez Infante, a Lady in White from Antilla, she was arrested as soon as she stepped out of her house on her way to the city of Holguin to participate in Mass alongside the other women, according to declarations she made to “Radio Republica” in this audio. Mildred was threatened by the police that she could not travel to Holguin during the weekends.

Berta Soler, representative of the Ladies in White at a national level, told the same medium that “just one Lady in White that arrives to any church in the country means that Christ is listening to our prayers…for the liberation of all political prisoners and the respect to human rights. And one Lady in White represents all Ladies in White in the country”.

After a week of arbitrary arrests, beatings, and deportations, the Ladies in White have once again made it clear that Sundays are sacred for them, as they have chosen to not abandon their marches to Mass throughout the country, despite any types of consequences. This 17th of February, various women were reportedly detained by the State Police, while many others were able to surpass cordons and make it to Mass, praying for the freedom of all Cubans.

Ivan Hernandez Carrillo, former political prisoner of conscience, used his Twitter account (@ivanlibre) to inform, from Cuba, about what was happening with the Ladies.

In Pinar del Rio it was confirmed that 4 Ladies in White marched and made it to church, according to messages published by Hernandez Carrillo. Another 3 women were detained: Caridad Peinado Gutiérrez, Lin Quiñones González and Iveth Pérez Pérez. Meanwhile, the representative of the group in that province- Noralys Martin Jiménez- was summoned to a police unit to be interrogated.

The repressive operations began early in Havana, according to messages sent out by also former prisoner of conscience Angel Moya Acosta on Twitter (@jangelmoya)

“Repressive forces have activated operations against Ladies in White in Havana”, wrote the activist, “various homes of these women have been surrounded by State Security officials”.

Ladies in White march in Havana. February 17th, 2013. Photo published by @jangelmoya

In Matanzas province: 11 Ladies in White in the city of Cardenas, 5 in Colon, 2 in Perico and 1 in Central Espana managed to make it to church without being arrested.

Meanwhile, in the central province of Villa Clara it was reported and confirmed that 3 women assisted Mass and 3 did the same in the province of Ciego de Avila.

Ladies in White march in Colon, Matanzas. February 17th, 2013. Photo published by @SayliNavarro

Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, another former political prisoner of conscience and national coordinator of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), informed on his Twitter (@jdanielferrer) that 56 Ladies in White surpassed police cordons throughout the province of Santiago de Cuba and arrived safely at the National Cobre Shrine, where they peacefully marched with flowers at hand and assisted Mass. “It is the highest number of Ladies in White which manage to make it to Mass in the Shrine since they started marching in July of 2011″, highlighted Ferrer.

In Guantanamo province 7 Ladies marched without being arrested, although under strict police surveillance.

In reference to the Ladies in White, Ferrer Garcia later tweeted: “Their valor, firmness and selfessness makes us all admire them and consolidates our faith in a soon free and democratic Cuba”.

Ladies in White outside El Cobre National Shrine, Santiago de Cuba. February 17th, 2013. Photo published by UNPACU